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Kettle Usage by Left handed individual

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    Kettle Usage by Left handed individual

    Hope that title get some attention as I am perfectly serious. I am left handed and have been forever it seems. I have one kettle, a Jumbo Joe, but am thinking seriously of getting a 22" to compliment it when cooking for more than just me and my wife.

    When I use the Jumbo Joe I can cook from any point around of the kettle (I have it on my deck on a round metal table) and usually put the lid, when off the bowl and into the holder so that it is directly across from me giving me access to my cook without interference. That works for me as does the lid to the right of my cook as I primarily use my left hand when working with my food.

    The Performer for example has a table and the lid goes only to the left it appears (wrong side for me) UNLESS it is just as easy to simply go to the other side of the table and cook from the back so that the lid would then be to my right. Or would vent controls etc. now be poorly located from my position?

    The new SnS grill, has a lid holder to the left it appears. Can I cook from the "other side" so to speak to get the lid on my right, or would vent controls, etc. now be inconveniently located?

    For that matter, can the vent covers, ash removal system, etc. be mounted "on the other side" when making assembly of the product?

    Does anyone, especially lefties, have any experience with this or do you just continue to fight right handed gadgets made for a righthanded world? Heck, I was a grown man before left handed golf clubs were made to the same quality as right handed ones. Fortunately, they are today if one is willing to pay for them..
    Last edited by Alabama Smoke; September 22, 2020, 04:47 PM.

    #2
    You are so right. It is a right handed world and we just have to adapt which is not always easy. Can't help on the kettle issues but I can commiserate.
    "I feel your pain"

    Comment


      #3
      The WSCGC is ambidextrous.

      Comment


        #4
        I have learned to adapt, but have not yet overcome, the right handed bias in our world🤣!

        Comment


        • FireMan
          FireMan commented
          Editing a comment
          Yeah, right handed bias!

        #5
        Click image for larger version

Name:	854360A3-1F69-43B2-AF16-B9F199568529.jpeg
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ID:	914918 I dunno. I have both my BGE and my Performer set up the same. I don’t really think about it. The cooking surfaces are where my dominant hand is, so I think it’s okay. I usually have the S&S on the right in the kettle.

        Comment


          #6
          I offer no solutions but would like say hello to some fellow lefties! It's fun being lefty, can't tell you how proud I was when we first noticed my daughter is a south paw as well!

          Comment


          • Texas Larry
            Texas Larry commented
            Editing a comment
            Me too JakeT! A daughter and a granddaughter. Go lefties!

          • Mosca
            Mosca commented
            Editing a comment
            My daughter is lefty too!

          • mrteddyprincess
            mrteddyprincess commented
            Editing a comment
            I duct-taped my daughter's right hand to her waist for her first three years and she still turned out to be right handed :-(

          #7
          Learn how to use yer other hand more better. I’m right handed & have difficulty usin my thermo-pen cuz then I have ta pick things up with my left & poke-n-temp with my right, which is awkward. Then again my Weber doesn’t work fer left dominated or right, it stores back in the middle. That means the top vent is in the middle & wind is neither lefty or righty & the smoke goes right up the top, not wafting to the right or the left over the meat. Oh, what is one to do? Adapt I say, adapt.

          Comment


            #8
            My new master series lid is ambidextrous and if not mistaken you can move the ash pan and vent system 90 degrees to fit lefties. But if you want a performer I’m not familiar with them so can’t answer if the table would be in the way or not.

            Comment


              #9
              Alabama Smoke hello from a fellow left hander. I have a Weber Performer 22" Kettle. I cook on my cement driveway so I can get around either side. I always put the cover on the driveway because I don't like putting it in the provided holder. I also use my SnS most of the time and I have that located on the side of the holder so that makes it bad to put the cover in the holder. I just went out and looked at my Performer and I think you could give the ash bucket/lower vent system a turn and end up on the other side. It clips into the spot where the legs would be if the kettle bottom were a Regular Model instead of a Performer. Check this out at a retail store so you see it in person before you buy. As I've done most of my life I guess I've just adapted to the RH world.

              Comment


                #10
                I'm a leftie, just burn my left fingers a few times until I remember about the right hand thing.
                Sometimes I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer....

                Comment


                  #11
                  Upper vents, spin the lid. Depending on what I'm doing, my lids are always in different places.

                  You can spin the performer ashcan on certain generation performers. Worst case, you can drill out rivets and put it where you want it.

                  If you really want the performer table, you'll be cooking from the backside and not have access to the gas and accessory hooks that the righties do. I can't imagine that the lower vent is hard to use with your non-dominant hand, or something that you fiddle with much. Once you get used to the kettle, it's basically set and forget except for all day cooks.

                  If you don't need the table, the Master-Touch tilts away from you, and again you only have to deal with the lower vent setting... once? (for a typical cook)

                  Now for the absurd point - with my performer setup for two-zone cooking, I always cooked from the back as a rightie. The lid doesn't get in the way. I think you'll find that if you are doing two-zone cooking the performer is actually better for you as a leftie, cooking from the normal front. The performer lid-catcher is farther away / deeper than a stand-alone kettle to provide unobstructed access to the grate.

                  Click image for larger version

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                  Comment


                    #12
                    Interesting comments. I definitely need to go see one perhaps at Ace Hardware where they put them together a lot and can not only look at them but can ask the folks who have pit a lot of them together. Again thanks for all the comments.

                    Comment


                    • JGo37
                      JGo37 commented
                      Editing a comment
                      I think locally for me it's Lowes that carries a handful of types of Weber kettles in stock.

                    • JGo37
                      JGo37 commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Below jfmorris comment made me think - the weberkettleclub.com carries the schematics for all the Weber kettles - you can look any generation up and see how it's put together, and what you can hack.

                    #13
                    Alabama Smoke the ash catch and the vent controls are in the front by default. I think it could be rotated, but only in 120 degree increments, as I think the mount attaches in 3 points, 120 degrees apart. That means it would be front, to the left rear, or the right rear, but probably not directly to the rear.

                    One solution is just put the lid on the ground if it gets in your way. I do that sometimes anyway, especially when lighting a chimney, as I don't want flames from the top of the chimney hitting the lid and scorching the paint. I have a 2007 Performer, and the lid holder keeps the lid tipped slighting over the kettle. The newer ones have it more upright and out of the way.

                    That said, I am kind of ambidextrous with my spatula and tong work, and often am using my left hand to mess with stuff on the grill. I think you need to look at one in person, and see how much the lid would cause you problems.

                    Comment


                    • JGo37
                      JGo37 commented
                      Editing a comment
                      If you look at my performer, the lid is about straight up, but I thought mine was as old as yours. I don't remember the code on the vent... My performer is on a deck, so I have to keep that in mind when I'm moving 'hot stuff'.. LoL

                    #14
                    I can attest a KBQ works just as well from the left side as the right.

                    Comment


                    • Alabama Smoke
                      Alabama Smoke commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Its on Amazon for $1745. More than I am willing to spend.

                    • Craigar
                      Craigar commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Alabama Smoke Less than $1600, including shipping to Birmingham, if you order direct.

                    • ComfortablyNumb
                      ComfortablyNumb commented
                      Editing a comment
                      A bit cheaper if you order direct, but probably not enough to tempt you. My answer was meant to be funny, as you were talking kettles, but in reality it is a perfect ambidextrous smoker. Food loads in the centre, the firebox is centrally located, so fuel can be loaded from either side, or even the back. A side table would be misplaced, a table would be best placed across from the unit, so you lift out of the cook box and straight onto the table. It's built for everyone, but not for everyone!

                    #15
                    My Napoleon kettle has a hinged lid and it hinges up and to the left, which it makes it perfect for a lefty. When in the upright position it is totally out of the way of the grill so at that point it works just as well for righties and lefties (I'm a member of the latter group).

                    Comment

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